Gonzaga’s Rice Idaho’s top choice

The University of Idaho men’s basketball job is Gonzaga assistant coach Leon Rice’s if he wants it.

Rice, considered the Vandals’ leading candidate since Leonard Perry was dismissed on Thursday, said he’s been offered the job, but won’t make a final decision until the conclusion of Gonzaga’s season.

“They’re just waiting on me,” said Rice, shortly after learning that the third-seeded Bulldogs will face No. 14 Xavier on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

“I told (Idaho athletic director) Rob (Spear) I’m not a great multi-tasker and I need to stay focused on what deserves my attention, and that’s Gonzaga,” Rice said. “I’m focused on the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Rob’s been so understanding and so sympathetic of my situation.”

Rice met with Spear for about three hours Saturday in Moscow.

“I thought it was a very productive interview, and I’m very interested in having further discussions with Leon when the appropriate time comes,” Spear said. “Right now, that’s where it’s at, and I told him I wanted to be respectful of what they have going on. The ball is kind of in his court about when he wants to have additional conversations.

“I feel encouraged it will go in a positive direction, but we will have more detailed conversations at the appropriate time.”

Spear declined to say if he had offered the job to Rice, but acknowledged various media reports characterizing Rice as the No. 1 candidate as “fair.”

“He’s a quality guy, and I think when I talked in the press conference (Friday) about having the right fit for our institution that he’s a guy that’s the right fit,” Spear said.

In addition to Rice, Idaho has interviewed Washington assistant Cameron Dollar and Steve Aggers, formerly the head coach at Eastern Washington and Loyola Marymount. Aggers was fired at LMU after the 2004-05 season. He compiled a 51-82 record at EWU from 1995-2000, leading the Eagles to a share of the Big Sky title in his last season.

Spear said he will follow through with discussions with additional candidates “to continue to be proactive in the search.” Spear expects to go on the road this week to visit with two more candidates whose teams are in the NCAA tournament.

Rice, an assistant at Gonzaga since 1999, was co-head coach at Yakima Valley College in 1997-98 and the head coach in 1998-99. Rice, 42, also has assistant coaching experience at Oregon, Northern Colorado and Yakima Valley.